For me, Outland has sort of filled that void - caught Fanfarlo and The Posies there this year.

Skully's never booked a ton of national acts but it feels like they've completely stopped doing that which is a shame.

Lack of advertising/websites are KILLING Carabar and The Summit as far as I'm concerned but then again I'm a 'burb dwelling father of 3 so maybe those places don't need advertising. At least I know where to look (MySpace) to see Rumba's schedule but even that isn't real easy to find.

Too bad Slapsy Maxie's isn't located in a good spot ... that's definitely my "diamond in the rough" for 2010. It's a great rock bar with a great setup, cheap beer, etc., etc.

_________________if I had the time or desire I would post a pic of Blair from Facts of Life and 1990 era Chip to produce the same effect

I'll second the lack of info from certain venues. I saw this morning that a band I would have liked to have seen played Skylab over the summer. Bummer. I don't recall seeing any flyers or posts for that matter.

It is sorta funny that Now That's Class in Cleveland sends flyers to Columbus for shows up there. We can't even get a schedule for venues here but we can find out what's going on in Clevo. WTF???? Sad state of affairs...

Benco has been booking national acts at Skully's. Kurt Vile... I forget who else but he is doing a good job promoting his events. Kudos to him. I agree that Outland could pick up the slack from the void of Little Brothers. While I hated LB, I did enjoy Outland for the Swans.

little bros's is missed. but i'm thinking the OLD lil bros. the one that booked awesome shows, not the one that started booking for cash. the last couple years they were only booking shows that would make them money so it started to get kind of lame.

_________________"My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."-unknown

Chip is right. Summit and Carabar could use some sort of smoke signal to let people know who's playing and when -- really the only source of info is this message board and word of mouth it seems. (Please don't say the local papers -- cause they aren't doing the job).

I hate to say this town needs a House of Blues, but after my experience at the Cleveland version, I'd say it does. That place seems to do everything right for a concert of a particular size.

Whatever happened to the rumors of a new Stache's in the old Miani's -- is that just rumor?

No. Outland, Skully's and even whatever BOMA is called now are size appropriate for what Little Brother's offered. And I'd argue that they all have superior sound systems. (Skully's ranking highest, BOMA is questionable due to not typically housing bands, and the last show I saw at Outland pretty much sounded as good or bad as Little Brothers used to)

Plus, we typically forget about The Basement, AND there's talk that Rumba may double in size much like Woodlands just did. Although I question the function of the Woodlands set up, and the fact that it's probably the furthest from high street and the older crowd blues leftovers from Thirsty Ear still kinda linger. But that's a different topic.

So venue wise, from a technical standpoint? I don't think we need it.

The question is, are we missing a consistent venue who brings the national little guys through? And that answer is yes, although I think Benco is really trying to make that venue be Outland. I think Outland has an uphill battle to be THAT venue for a few reasons but if the Brewery District can begin to ressurect itself from the fatal blow dealt by the Arena District, then it might be possible.

For now, there's not a singular venue where you know that smaller touring acts are most likely to hit right now.

I'm surprised it's not Skully's, but some of that may have to do with the bar being booked out some 4-5 months in advance at times.

little bros's is missed. but i'm thinking the OLD lil bros. the one that booked awesome shows, not the one that started booking for cash. the last couple years they were only booking shows that would make them money so it started to get kind of lame.

Being able to pay rent is super lame. It's too bad that landlord didn't let them stay there just for being awesome.

Kind of off topic but why did everyone quit booking at Ravari? I mean yeah it always kind of sucked for shows but still it used to have a few gems(non pig fuck metal) a year.

And yes we need a good mid sized venue run by people who like music.

That's an interesting question. Personally, for me, I like Ravari, and the sound is okay, but getting in contact with Jeff got to be such a ridiculous task that I just gave up. Jeff's cool and all, but he was really bad about the whole booking thing. I think metalheads are so hungry for venues other than an Alrosa that their persistence kinda took over the bar.

For regular rock and indie type bands, we have bars all up and down high street who will call or email us back.

To me it's a case of what happens when you don't mow your lawn and the dandilions grow up above the grass and you realize that due to neglect, you've got a yard full of weeds.

I dunno, that's just a theory. Granted the soundman Stubbs is now doing booking there, and hopefully the scene will turn around a bit. But even if it doesn't, I'm not upset.

Ravari: there is about an 80% percent chance of getting towed while seeing a band there. I'm not really interested in paying $113 to see the Phantods open up for Fitz and the Tantrums.

Basement: Bad set up mediocre sound.Carabar: Fine venue but it's soon to be gone too, right?Summit: Fine venue.Rumba: Needs to be bigger but other than that I love seeing bands there. Great staff.

_________________Gob: "My God. What is this feeling?"
Michael: "You know, the feeling that you're feeling is just what many of us call ... a 'feeling.'
Gob: "It's not like envy, or even hungry."
Michael: "Could it be love?"
Gob: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite -- it's like my heart is getting hard."

+1 on Cringe listings, The Summit and The Rumba staff. The Basement is a profoundly bad place for rock and roll although I do get a kick out of watching clips from time to time of some of the world's worst bands ever packing the place after SNL.

_________________People to whom nothing has ever happened cannot understand the unimportance of events.

The Summit is a bit of a boxcar and Bobo is still a tiny tree house. Rumba only likes singer songwriters or funky jazz cover bands. Skully's could of did what Little Bros.did, but probably didn't want to. Carabar's ok, I guess. I'm not sure touring bands are thrilled to play these places. Driving all day to play The Treehouse must totally suck.

By the way, why isn't that old Sloopie's the new Little Brothers? The size is right. Heard it's going to be a restaurant. Hope not. That could be the one.

A Little Brother's-sized club in that spot would be pretty awesome. It's already a decent live music district with Ravari and Kobo. And close enough to campus to presumably get some OSU student runoff, as unpredictable as that audience might be. Parking is indeed a bitch over there though.

little bros's is missed. but i'm thinking the OLD lil bros. the one that booked awesome shows, not the one that started booking for cash. the last couple years they were only booking shows that would make them money so it started to get kind of lame.

Being able to pay rent is super lame. It's too bad that landlord didn't let them stay there just for being awesome.

i didn't BLAME him for trying to pay rent.jerk.

_________________"My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."-unknown

little bros's is missed. but i'm thinking the OLD lil bros. the one that booked awesome shows, not the one that started booking for cash. the last couple years they were only booking shows that would make them money so it started to get kind of lame.

Being able to pay rent is super lame. It's too bad that landlord didn't let them stay there just for being awesome.

i didn't BLAME him for trying to pay rent.jerk.

I was kidding, That was my internet snarkery sticking up for Dan Dougan and Ben just a little.